I just unlocked the first most wanted race in this game, and it is driving me up a wall. I literally can't catch this guy, it's like I don't even have the remotest chance of beating him. Are you supposed to get all the upgrades for your car before taking these guys on or something? Because while I expected them to be challenging, this is beyond challenging... this is fucking hard as fuck. The thought that it only would get harder from here seriously has me discouraged from playing this game any more (though I'll probably feel more positive on the subject in the morning, when I haven't been trying to beat the race for an hour).

Any tips on this? Cause I could really use some.

I found them all pretty easy duder and I'm pretty sure I'm not that great at it. So I'm thinking since you've just started you need to just get more of a feel for the type of racing and avoid crashes or just find a better car. There's plenty of cars that are better than that one the first guy uses that are unlocked from the start that you just have to find so that might actually be the problem you're having.

I think I've done six or seven and really had no issue with them.

What car are you using? Keep in mind that they're all out there for the taking. I stumbled across the Ford GT almost immediately after starting up the game, and that's what I've used for every single Most Wanted race. Also, make sure you're using a decent set of mods because they make a tremendous difference.

I'm using the Porsche that you start out with (I found another car whose name escapes me, but didn't like the way it handled so I'm sticking with the Porsche for now), only mods I have at the moment are burn nitrous and off-road tires.

Well, it's no surprise that you're having problems.

Go find a better car, and then unlock nitrous, track tires, aero body, lightweight chassis, and long gears. You shouldn't have much trouble after that.

Upgrading is vital to winning the most wanted races.

Fair enough. I guess it's time to knock out some upgrades, although it's mildly disappointing that the game doesn't tell you how important this is. I had been under the impression that the car mods were all sidegrades - situationally useful, but you could do equally as well with stock parts.

Any recommendations on a car to shoot for? I have to say, I do like the Porsche so far, but I have no idea how the cars stack up against each other so I can't tell if it's good or not - it just feels good to drive.

@bigstrat2003 said:

I just unlocked the first most wanted race in this game, and it is driving me up a wall. I literally can't catch this guy, it's like I don't even have the remotest chance of beating him. Are you supposed to get all the upgrades for your car before taking these guys on or something? Because while I expected them to be challenging, this is beyond challenging... this is fucking hard as fuck. The thought that it only would get harder from here seriously has me discouraged from playing this game any more (though I'll probably feel more positive on the subject in the morning, when I haven't been trying to beat the race for an hour).

Any tips on this? Cause I could really use some.

You can use any car you want. Unlocking mods is a matter of a doing a car's 5 events. Pro versions are easily obtained too, just play the game. If you don't actually want to play the game (as in driving every car in every available event, compete for high scores etc.), just pick a kick-ass ride and stick with it.

I'd say you can't go wrong with the Gallardo. Fast and easy to master car.

Do you find yourself crashing alot? If the race is on say mostly highways and streets, then why do you think off road tires will help you out? You don't exactly have to have every upgrade to beat them, but just logistically, an Evo, is probably going to need as much mods as it can get to be competitive against the lambo, while cars like the veyron is probably going to be fine with minimal upgrades.

Just remember, all the cars are unlocked from the begginning. This version of NFS has a lot less structure than previous ones so the whole working your way up from a honda civic to exotics is out the window. (IMO, the entire top ten list if a formality, as the sandbox aspect of the game probably threw everybody including myself off when it comes to what game to expect.).

Find the Lamborghini Gallardo and unlock it's mods, I used it all the way until I unlocked the Mclaren via Most Wanted race and never had any performance issues with it. It's also a lambo so it looks awesome flying down the street.

Aston Martin V12 Vantage for me. I used that car to beat every single most wanted race.

@StaticFalconar: Well, the first most wanted race takes place about half on dirt, so the off-road tires help there (but I had them equipped anyway). But even with minimal crashing (not none, cause as far as I can tell that's bloody impossible), I just couldn't even get close enough to have a shot with that guy.

I'm currently doing the second race for the Lambo (the one that gets you long gears and reinforced chassis), and am crashing a lot more cause of more traffic. Often my fault, but often enough complete bullshit which is kind of lame (like, a truck decides to cross the intersection just when I happen to be going through, so I T-bone the guy without even having a chance to avoid him). c'est la vie. I figure if I can weed out the instances where it's my fault, I can pull it off... which is in contrast to the most wanted race I was banging my head against last night, where I barely even saw the opponent, much less had a chance to pass him - even on my best runs at the race.

Yeah when it comes to crashing it's a mix of really getting a feel for the handling of whatever car you are using, as well as knowing how to use drifting and boost(if you have it unlocked) to quickly maneuver, and knowing the track so you can expect quick turns or banks and prepare for them.

I unlocked the long gears and reinforced chassis for the Lambo, and had a crack at the first of the most wanted races again. It's still hard, but at least it's within the realm of possibility now. I was definitely able to make some headways, and though I lost, came away feeling like it was something I could overcome rather than a "fuck you" from the designers. So that made a really big difference. Thanks, guys.

Side note: does anyone else have issues with using "repeat last event" for most wanted races (PS3)? Both times I've done that, I had the game freeze in this weird state where it was kind of responding to input (the buttons would trigger sounds), but look like it was stuck on a pause screen or something. Not sure if it's a bug, or if I just need to wait longer for the game to dump me into the race.

The are the most easy in the game, just use a car you have got the unlocks for and equip reinflating tires.

@bigstrat2003: My biggest problem in that first most wanted race is I just get fucking swarmed by the cops in the last 2 miles or so which causes me crash into something while the guy I'm racing just drives past unhindered by the cops.

@NoRemnants: Yeah, that fucking sucks when that happens. Worst that has happened to me is a cop managed to get in front of me in such a way that I T-boned him (whilst driving through a tunnel), but we were too close to the side and I couldn't get out from behind him. So he just slowed me down more and more until eventually I had to back up and get around him at low speeds, then take off again.

Needless to say, that killed my chance at winning that race.

I don't think the races were all that hard. Try putting on impact protection if you get knocked around too much, it's also handy for Most Wanted takedowns. Those I missed half the time at the end of the race, but the Most Wanted cars will come flying by you frequently until you smash them. Keep an eye out.

If you can beat all 5 races and get all the mods on a decent car, you shouldn't have a problem with the Most Wanted stuff. Don't underestimate the difference that mod changes can make for appropriate events.

I found the Lamborgini Gallardo early on and used it for probably the first half of the Most Wanted missions. It was pretty easy. But I could see it being difficult using the default Porsche with no upgrades.